Monica Bulger takes a critical look at a recent OECD report about the benefits and drawbacks of using computers and technology to aid children’s learning. She concludes that talking to children about what they like to learn and how is the best way forward to support them. Monica leads the Enabling Connected Learning initiative at the Data & Society Research Institute specialising in children’s rights in digital and learning spaces

Bulger, Monica

LSE Research Online

2017­5­10 Parenting for a Digital Future – Is using technology for learning a good idea?http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2015/11/11/is­using­technology­for­learning­a­good­idea/ 1/3Is using technology for learning a good idea?Credit: B. Flickinger, CC BY 2.0Monica Bulger  takes a critical  look at a  recent OECD  report about  thebenefits  and  drawbacks  of  using  computers  and  technology  to  aidchildren’s  learning.  She  concludes  that  talking  to  children  about  whatthey  like  to  learn  and  how  is  the  best  way  forward  to  support  them.Monica leads the Enabling Connected Learning  initiative at  the Data &Society Research Institute specialising  in children’s rights  in digital andlearning spaces. As parents are equipping their homes with technology to support theirchildren’s  learning,  new  findings  suggest  this  might  actually  be  in  vain.  In  a  recent  report,Students,  computers and  learning: Making  the connection,  the OECD  finds  that while moderateuse of educational  technologies  relates  to  improved PISA scores,  ‘students who use computersvery  frequently  at  school  do  a  lot  worse  in  most  learning  outcomes,  even  after  accounting  forsocial background and student demographics.’ This finding is certainly counter to many reports oflearning improvements with technologies. So with these conflicting findings, where might the truthlie?As Sonia Livingstone found  in her 2012 review of  research on the benefits of  ICTs in education,measuring  learning  is  challenging  given  the  varied  expectations  of  ‘success’  in  learning,  thecomplex  factors  contributing  to  learning  outcomes,  and  the  expense  of  longitudinal  studies.Likewise,  the  variety  of  learning  technologies  available  and  in  use,  combined  with  diversepedagogies, lead to inconclusive findings.Neil  Selwyn  challenges  the  often  binary  nature  of  educational  technology  research.  Whetherlearning outcomes are improved with or without technology is the commonly asked question, butshould  it  be?  Technology  is  simply  a  tool,  Selwyn  argues,  and  factors  such  as  pedagogicalapplication, teacher engagement and the socio­cultural background of the student all influence theefficacy of any learning experience.Home About On our minds From our notes Around the world Publications ResourcesSubscribe 2017­5­10 Parenting for a Digital Future – Is using technology for learning a good idea?http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2015/11/11/is­using­technology­for­learning­a­good­idea/ 2/3Technologists like Nicholas Negroponte promote the idea that in the hands of a child a laptop cantransform their world. Perhaps it can, but unfortunately, these anecdotal claims have caused manyto believe they can simply drop laptops into a classroom, add internet access, parachute a varietyof devices into poor, rural areas, and magically,  learning outcomes will  improve. This myth of aneasy  technical  fix  has  led  to  misspent  resources  in  struggling  school  districts  as  well  as  largeones. As demonstrated in the US by the failure of iPads in the Los Angeles Unified School Districtand  New  York  City  School’s  recent  ending  of  their  relationship  with  Pearson,  evaluations  oftechnology  use  must  be  paired  with  consideration  of  the  broader  ecosystem  of  support  andtraining.When  the OECD seeks  to explain  learning  scores with high or  low use of  technology,  they arepursuing a limited view of how learning happens. Much of the interesting work around technologyand education looks at the broader picture of how children’s everyday social and digital practicesimpact  their  education  (see,  for  example,  It’s Complicated, The Class, Leveling Up,  The  DigitalEdge).Questionable measuresIn the OECD’s report, measures of computer use are based on unverified self­reports from schoolprincipals. Their responses are then ‘weighted so that they are proportionate to the number of 15­year­olds enrolled in the school.’ ICT use in schools was measured by ‘frequency of browsing theinternet for school’, with analysis comparing ‘once a week or more’ as high frequency use. Thus,the  measure  of  educational  technology  use  is  constructed  from  principal  reports  of  whetherinternet browsing occurs once a week in their school, and is then applied to all students within thatschool, regardless of their actual experience, yet analysed against individual student performanceon the PISA tests.Better ways to measure educational technology useAsk the children. As part of the demographic data collected by PISA tests, adding questions about use oftechnology in the classroom would be a stronger and more accurate measure. School administratorsmight feel pressured to report on ideal use or expected use rather than actual use, but asking an entirecohort of students about their use will likely result in more accurate averages. Further, given thenumber of classes and teachers at any given school, expecting principals to be aware of specificpractices might be unreasonable.Limiting the questions to frequency of internet browsing may not address the rich classroom practicesof technology engagement. More interesting measures could be developed through classroomobservation or focus group discussions with teachers, or a review of a growing and diverse body ofresearch. Using multiple methods can address technology use from the teacher and studentperspectives while also measuring academic performance Starting points might be how technologies areused for creating materials in classrooms, how they are used for learning science, maths, history or art,how they are used for communicating with peers, their local community, and beyond the classroom.If truly aiming to measure the effects of potentially excessive classroom internet use on student learningoutcomes, more precise measures (e.g., daily use) would be more effective.Finally, any responsible analysis of 15-year-old students’ learning performance must take into accounttheir lived experience. Plenty of evidence shows that household income level and parents’ educationlevel are crucial predictors of a child’s academic performance. The OECD reports that economic, socialand cultural status accounts for 12% of variation in performance on maths and reading scores acrossOECD countries. So instead of removing socioeconomics as a variable when evaluating the effects ofeducational technology use, it would be interesting to add it in, and see how the effects of technology onlearning scores might shift when relative poverty is considered.Parents can also think about these measures in the home, when working out what best supportstheir child. Talking to children about what they like and what they find challenging is a way to stepH m About On our minds From our notes Around the world Publications ResourcesSubscribe 2017­5­10 Parenting for a Digital Future – Is using technology for learning a good idea?http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2015/11/11/is­using­technology­for­learning­a­good­idea/ 3/3November 11th, 2015 | Featured, From our notes | 0 Commentsbeyond  whether  the  technology  is  helping  them  learn,  and  opens  up  a  broader  range  ofpossibilities for understanding and supporting their learning experience.Home About On our minds From our notes Around the world Publications ResourcesSubscribe 

Is using technology for learning a good idea?

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